Ewen Jones (Herbert, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Health and Ageing. I refer the minister to her admission that the government chose the location of GP superclinics without analysing whether there was a shortage of medical care in that area. Minister, what is the point of spending $650 million building GP superclinics that simply duplicate existing medical services such as those at Deeragun in Townsville? Would this money not be better spent assisting the flood and cyclone recovery by rebuilding the roof of the Tully Hospital?

Nicola Roxon (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you very much for that question. It allows me to address what I think has become quite an inappropriate argument that has been running in parts of Queensland when, of course, so much attention should and will urgently be given to the rebuilding of hospitals and other services that I think have been coping extremely well in difficult circumstances. At the start of his question the member asked what the point is of building these services. The point of building these services is that unfortunately the Leader of the Opposition left 60 per cent of the country short of GPs, meaning that not just in times of crisis but also in the middle of the night and on weekends, when families want their children to get care and see a GP, they have not been able to do so. It is not correct that an assessment was not made by the government of the areas of need; it is correct that that work was not done by our department.

If the member wants to say to me that his community of Townsville does not want a superclinic, there are many, many other communities across the country that desperately want one. We have made it absolutely clear that if any community clearly indicates to us that they do not want a superclinic—and local members are welcome to do this; they have all been written to—I am quite happy to have that money redirected to communities that do desperately need them and make sure that our commitment that people can see a GP close to home when they need one will be realised by the work of this government.